Japan confirms Africa’s large economic potential

On the occasion of the 6th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), were signed 73 Japan-Africa trade agreements and pledged USD 30 billion investment by Japan in Africa by 2019, one third funded by the Japanese government, particularly in medical education, and two thirds by the Japanese private sector within the framework of the new Japan-African public-private economic Forum.

All African countries except Morocco and Libya, represented by 33 heads of state, 14 ministerial delegations and 10,000 delegates stressed the reliability of their Japanese partners and the quality of their cooperation particularly in terms of industrial development and logistics. Like China, Japan is an important market for African raw materials, particularly energy, and also a way for Africa to diversify its import customers.

Japan-Africa Tradeamounted to USD 24 billion in 2015 compared to USD 180 billion for China-Africa trade. As further evidence of Africa’s growing significance, the conference launched in 1993 was held for the first time in Africa in Nairobi (Kenya) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated his goal to see Japan sit on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) alongside another permanent member from Africa.